A WAR hero who lost both legs in Afghanistan has revealed how his gruelling training for the Rio 2016 Paralympics has given him a new lease of life.

Ex-paratrooper Scott Meenagh took up rowing as part of his recovery after he was blown up by a landmine four years ago in Helmand Province.

His close friend Martin Bell died in another blast as he carried Scott back to base on a stretcher.

Now the superfit 25-year-old has revealed that his blossoming athletic career has helped him put his war horror behind him.

He said: “I want to be defined as a sportsman, not just the guy who lost his legs in action. Sport is so important to me – it has helped me regain the confidence that I had lost when I was injured.

“I don’t want to be defined by what happened to me on a bad day at work. I took up rowing when I was going through the recovery process at the Headley Court rehabilitation unit in Surrey.

“We are rowing hundreds of kilometres and training six times a week. Rowing was something that just grabbed me, as it was so physically demanding.

“It’s also more of a level playing field with other people.”

Last year, Scott, from Cumbernauld, was invited to train full-time with the British Rowing team in the run-up to the Rio 2016 Paralympics.

He was also named captain of the British Armed Forces rowing team in the 2014 London Invictus Games, where he won two silver medals.

Scott said: “It’s been amazing seeing the change over the last year. People no longer want to know what it felt like to lose my legs.

“Being a wounded soldier, sometimes people make life easier for you. I feel with rowing, people don’t care about being nice to you – if you’re not hitting the marks they let you know.”

Former paratrooper Scott Meenagh in training (Image: Anthony Upton)

Scott visited the Erskine veterans’ home, near Glasgow, yesterday to support their bid to be named a winner in the National Lottery Awards 2015.

The charity made it to the final of the Best Sports Project category after hosting the Erskine Commonwealth Games last year and are competing against six other groups in the public vote to decide who wins.

He said: “I am such a strong supporter of Erskine and it’s been great to take some time out from training to meet the veterans and staff here. I really look up to people here.

“They were able to give us the freedom we have and the stories of their bravery really inspired me to follow in their footsteps.

“National Lottery funding is enabling me to pursue a place at next year’s Paralympics in Rio.

“But it’s not just elite sport that benefits, National Lottery funding is giving everyone more opportunities to get active through projects like the Erskine Commonwealth Games.